The background and pro and con arguments were written by ProCon.org staff based upon input from the following footnotes.
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| 2. | Julie Donohue, "A History of Drug Advertising: The Evolving Roles of Consumers and Consumer Protection,” Milbank Quarterly, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, Dec. 2006 |
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| 10. | Matthew Arnold, "Direct-to-Consumer Report: DTC Drain,” mmm-online.com, Apr. 1, 2013 |
| 11. | Carol Ballentine, "Taste of Raspberries, Taste of Death: The 1937 Elixir Sulfanilamide Incident, " fda.gov, June 1981 |
| 12. | Jeremy A. Greene and David Herzberg, "HIDDEN in PLAIN SIGHT Marketing Prescription Drugs to Consumers in the Twentieth Century,” American Journal of Public Health, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, May 2010 |
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| 16. | Davis & Gilbert LLP, "PHRMA Amends Voluntary Guidelines on DTC Advertising,” dglawcom, Feb. 10, 2009 |
| 17. | FDA, "The Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP),” fda.gov, Mar. 6, 2014 |
| 18. | World Health Organization, "Pharmaceutical Industry,” who.int (accessed Mar. 21, 2014) |
| 19. | FDA, "Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP) Research,” fda.gov, Mar. 19, 2013 |
| 20. | Regulations.gov, "Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Disclosure Regarding Additional Risks in Direct-to- Consumer Prescription Drug Television Advertisements,” regulations.gov, Feb. 18, 2014 |
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| 22. | Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, "Clarify FDA’s Regulatory Authority,” iom.edu, Sep. 2006 |
| 23. | Philip H. Dougherty, "Advertising; Pfizer’s Awareness Campaign,” nytimes.com, Feb. 7, 1985 |
| 24. | Wendy Borrow, "The AMA Explains Its about-Face on Direct-to-Consumer Advertising. (American Medical Association),” highbeam.com, Sep. 1, 1993 |
| 25. | FDA, "History of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,” fda.gov, May 7, 1997 |
| 26. | Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, "Impact of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising on Prescription Drug Spending," kff.org, June 2003 |
| 27. | US Government Accountability Office (GAO), "Prescription Drugs: Improvements Needed in FDA's Oversight of Direct-To-Consumer Advertising,"  gao.gov, Nov. 2006 |
| 28. | Michael R. Law, Stephen B. Soumerai, Alyce S. Adams, and Sumit R. Majumdar, "Costs and Consequences of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising for Clopidogrel in Medicaid,” Archives of Internal Medicine, Nov. 23, 2009 |
| 29. | John LaMattina, "Maybe It’s Time for Drug Companies to Drop TV Ads,” forbes.com, Feb. 15, 2012 |
| 30. | Andrew R. Payton and Peggy A. Thoits, "Medicalization, Direct-to-Consumer Advertising, and Mental Illness Stigma,” Society and Mental Health, Mar. 2011 |
| 31. | Jeannine Stein, "There’s a Pill for That: Drug Prescriptions in the U.S. Hit a Record High,” takepart.com, Sep. 14, 2012 |
| 32. | Rodale, "Prevention Magazine Releases 13th Annual DTC Survey Results,” rodaleinc.com, July 15, 2010 |
| 33. | Matthew Herper, "The Truly Staggering Cost of Inventing New Drugs,” forbes.com, Feb. 10, 2012 |
| 34. | Louis Jacobson, "Prevent Drug Companies from Blocking Generic Drugs,” politifact.com, Mar. 9, 2012 |
| 35. | Dayne M. Porter, "Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Pharmaceutical Marketing: Impacts and Policy Implications,” SPNHA Review, scholarworks.gvsu.edu, Oct. 19, 2011 |
| 36. | FDA, "Basics of Drug Ads,” fda.gov, Sep. 13, 2012 |
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| 40. | Frank Auton, "Opinion: The Case for Advertising Pharmaceuticals Directly to Consumers,” Future Medicinal Chemistry, future-science.com, July 2009 |
| 41. | Gregory A. Abel, Harold J. Burstein, Nathaneal D. Hevelone, and Jane C. Weeks, "Cancer-Related Direct-to-Consumer Advertising: Awareness, Perceptions, and Reported Impact among Patients Undergoing Active Cancer Treatment,” Journal of Clinical Oncology, Aug. 3, 2009 |
| 42. | Richard Meyer, "Majority of Physicians Believe DTC Ads Should Be Cut Back,” worldofdtcmarketing.com, Apr. 30, 2013 |
| 43. | Kathryn J. Aikin, John L Swasy, and Amie C. Braman, "Patient and Physician Attitudes and Behaviors Associated with DTC Promotion of Prescription Drugs —Summary of FDA Survey Research Results,” fda.gov, Nov. 19, 2004 |
| 44. | Ashish Parekh, Roland Marcus, Melissa Roberts, and Dennis W. Raisch, "Risks and Benefits of Direct to Consumer Advertising on Patient-Provider Relationships,” ispor.org, Nov. 2011 |
| 45. | Taylor Tyler, "Direct-to-Consumer Drug Ads Should Be Scaled Back, Doctors Say,” ivn.us, June 3, 2013 |
| 46. | C. Lee Ventola, "Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising: Therapeutic or Toxic?,” ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, Oct. 2011 |
| 47. | Bruce Japsen, "Drug Makers Dial down TV Advertising,” nytimes.com, Feb. 2, 2012 |
| 48. | Ann Marie Christensen, "TV Drug Ads: The Whole Truth?,” eurekaalert.org, Sep. 16, 2013 |
| 49. | Adrienne E. Faerber and David H. Kreling, "Content Analysis of False and Misleading Claims in Television Advertising for Prescription and Nonprescription Drugs,” Journal of Internal Medicine, springer.com, Sep. 2013 |
| 50. | FDA, "FDA – Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS): Freedom of Information (FOI) Report,” medicalmarijuana.procon.org (accessed Mar. 25, 2014) |
| 51. | Rachel Kornfield, "The Rise of TV Advertising for Prescription Cosmetic Pharmaceuticals,” healthmediacollaboratory.org, Aug. 20, 2013 |
| 52. | AbbVie Inc , "Decreased Energy,” isitlowt.com (accessed Jan. 16, 2013) |
| 53. | Kurt C. Stange, "Consumer Drug Advertising Should Be Banned,” nytimes.com, Dec. 16, 2013 |
| 54. | Trista Kelley, "The Big Bucks in Keeping Kids Focused,” businessweek.com, Oct. 10, 2013 |
| 55. | Brenden L. Smith, "Inappropriate Prescribing,” apa.org, June 2012 |
| 56. | Science Daily, "Many U.S. Physicians Often Fulfill Patient Requests for Brand-Name Drugs Instead of Equivalent Generics,” sciencedaily.com, Jan. 7, 2013 |
| 57. | Uwe Reinhardt, interview with Frontline, pbs.org, Oct. 9, 2002 |
| 58. | Alan Schwarz, "Report Says Medication Use Is Rising for Adults with Attention Disorder," nytimes.com, Mar. 12, 2014 |
| 59. | Rebecca Robbins, "Drug Makers Now Spend $5 Billion a Year on Advertising. Here's What That Buys," statnews.com, Mar. 9, 2016 |
| 60. | GlobalData "US Pharmaceutical Market Value Will Approach $550 Billion by 2020, Says GlobalData," healthcare.globaldata.com, Mar. 17, 2015 |
| 61. | Bruce Horovitz and Julie Appleby, "Prescription Drug Costs Are Up; So Are TV Ads Promoting Them," usatoday.com, Mar. 16, 2017 |
| 62. | .Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and STAT, "American's Attitudes about Changing Current Prescription Drug & Medical Device Regulation," harvard.edu, May 2016 |
| 63. | Kristina Klara, Jeanie Kim, and Joseph S. Ross, "Direct-to-Consumer Broadcast Advertisements for Pharmaceuticals: Off-Label Promotion and Adherence to FDA Guidelines," Journal of Internal General Medicine, Feb. 26, 2018 |
| 64 | Laura Entis, "DTC Pharma Ad Spending Slipped 4.6% in 2017: Kantar," mmm-online.com, Mar. 12, 2018 |